BRIEF 8 INVESTIGATIVE JOURNALISM

Investigative Journalism : BuzzFeed

First off, investigative journalism is a form of journalism in which reporters deeply investigate a single topic of interest, such as serious crimes, political corruption, or corporate wrongdoing. An investigative journalist's work is very difficult because he/she may spend moths or even years researching and preparing a report. Basically, investigative journalism is a primary source of information. It is mostly conducted by newspapers, wire services, and freelance journalists. The term "accountability reporting" is mainly used by the practitioners. There are numerous ways to conduct an investigative journalism. Some of the ways are as follow:

• The documents such as lawsuits and other legal documents, tax records, government reports, regulatory reports, and corporate financial fillings should all be thoroughly analyzed. 
• The databases of the public records should be managed properly. 
• Deep research into social and legal issues must be done as those are very sensitive issues.
• Interviews should be rapidly conducted especially with anonymous sources such as whistle blowers.

BuzzFeed

BuzzFeed is one of the major examples of Investigative Reporting outlets to follow. BuzzFeed has a growing investigative team and body of work worth attention, which makes us the readers gain knowledge on what is going around us and why is it happening that way. BuzzFeed is an American internet media company based in New York City. The firm describes itself as a "social news and entertainment company". Its main focus is on digital media and digital technology in order to provide most shareable breaking news, original reporting, entertainment, and videos. BuzzFeed was founded in 2006 by Jonah Peretti and John S. Johnson III. 

Trump dossier

This has been one of the biggest example of investigative journalism reported by BuzzFeed. In simple words, this news has tried to explain that on the existence of classified documents that claimed Russia had compromising personal and financial information about President-elect Donald Trump. Both Trump and President Obama had been briefed on the content of the dossier, or any specific details of the dossier, as they could not be verified. Later the same day, BuzzFeed published a 35 page dossier in full. BuzzFeed said that the dossier was unverified and "includes some clear errors". The dossier had been read widely by political and media figures in Washington, and previously been sent to multiple journalists who had declined to publish it as unsubstantiated.

https://www.buzzfeed.com/kenbensinger/these-reports-allege-trump-has-deep-ties-to-russia?utm_term=.ypzjVbaoq#.sfLgQYap3

 

My view

According to me, Trump dossier has to be one important investigative journalism's example of BuzzFeed as it is clear in the article that it has been a major issue whatsoever. It is definitely not a recent issue but is has been very hyped which is why I chose this topic. I think BuzzFeed does a good job when it comes to posting something that is related to investigative journalism. It is very important for the readers to understand the main idea of investigative journalism and how it is conduct. BuzzFeed makes sure that it is done properly and in a clear manner. 

BRIEF 7 EXPLOITING A NEWS STORY

Kendall Jenner Robbed : Cops believe it was an inside job

Kendall Nicole Jenner (born November 3, 1995) is an American fashion model and television personality. Originally known for appearing in the E! reality television show Keeping Up with the Kardashians, Jenner is now also a model in a movement dubbed "the Instagirl era" by Vogue magazine, or "Social Media Modeling" by Harper's Bazaar, where models are chosen due to their online presence and social media following.

After working in commercial print ad campaigns and photo-shoots, Jenner had breakout seasons in 2014 and 2015, walking the runways for high fashion designers during the New York, Milan, and Paris Fashion Weeks. Jenner has done multiple editorials and cover shoots for LOVE and various international Vogue editions, walked for Victoria's Secret, and acts as brand ambassador for Estee Lauder's multimedia ad campaigns. Jenner made her debut at No. 16 on Forbes magazine's 2015 list of top earning models, with an estimated annual income of US$4 million. As of 23 November 2016, she is one of the top 10 most followed celebrities on Instagram with 68.8 million followers.

The Robbery  (March 16, 2017)

Kendall Jenner is the latest Hollywood celebrity hit by burglars to the tune of $200k. Law enforcement sources tell TMZ, Kendall left her Hollywood Hills home Wednesday around noon and returned around 8 PM. We're told she was hanging around the house for several hours, and noticed nothing amiss, that is, until she went to her bedroom just after 1 AM and realized some of her jewelry was missing. She called cops, who responded quickly.

However, TMZ broke a story last August which stated an alleged stalker followed Kendall up her driveway shortly after she bought the Hollywood Hills home. Law enforcement sources say, although a number of celebs have been burglary victims this year, it has become a much bigger problem citywide. As for Kendall, cops are on the hunt. It has also been found out that few hours before the robbery she has friends over, which made the cops suspect that it can be an inside job. 

                                                  

http://www.tmz.com/2017/03/16/kendall-jenner-jewelry-robbery-forensic-fingerprint-specialist/

My view

So there have been tons of issues related to the Kardashain/Jenner clan but many of those have been stated as untrue and also been proven that they have used it just for publicity. There was another robbery which was encountered by Kim Kardashian on October 3, 2016. (Details : http://people.com/tv/kim-kardashian-robbery-questions-answered/) In the new episodes of their reality show "Keeping Up with the Kardashians", this topic has been made in focus revealing how Kim felt during the Robbery. For some it might be taken as a simple topic that they happen to brought up but there have been issues going on which states that the Kardashians might be using this story for ratings. (Details : http://www.accesshollywood.com/videos/are-the-kardashians-using-kims-robbery-for-ratings-plugged-in/#TPxczbxRjrCqXlC9.02)

Even on the story of Kendall Jenner, as the cops have said that it might be an inside job, this turns the entire story into a different pattern and obviously catches the attention of the viewers. But due to their family's history about gaining popularity through various ways, it might be hard for some readers to believe that this might actually be true.

BLOG 6 COPYRIGHT AND FAIR USE

Copyright

Copyright is a legal right created by the law of a country that grants the creator of an original work exclusive rights for its use and distribution. This is usually only for a limited time. The exclusive rights are not absolute but limited by limitations and exceptions to copyright law, including fair use. A major limitation on copyright is that copyright protects only the original expression of ideas, and not the underlying ideas themselves. Copyright is a form of intellectual property, applicable to certain forms of creative work. Some, but not all jurisdictions require "fixing" copyrighted works in a tangible form. It is often shared among multiple authors, each of whom holds a set of rights to use or license the work, and who are commonly referred to as rights holders. These rights frequently include reproduction, control over derivative works, distribution, public performance, and "moral rights" such as attribution.

Fair Use

Fair use is a copyright principle based on the belief that the public is entitled to freely use portions of copyrighted materials for purposes of commentary and criticism. For example, if you wish to criticize a novelist, you should have the freedom to quote a portion of the novelist’s work without asking permission. Absent this freedom, copyright owners could stifle any negative comments about their work. Unfortunately, if the copyright owner disagrees with your fair use interpretation, the dispute may have to be resolved by a lawsuit or arbitration. If it’s not a fair use, then you are infringing upon the rights of the copyright owner and may be liable for damages.

Illegal Action: Downloading TV Shows and Movies 

It's unlikely that anyone who's spent a moment online is unaware of the illegality associated with downloading unlicensed TV shows and movies from file sharing services. Nonetheless, it's extremely common, but the cause varies. While some are undoubtedly stealing television and film content because they simply do not want to pay, many are employing piracy because the barrier to entry is unrealistic for most consumers. Derek Bambauer explains, using HBO's Game of Thrones series as an example:
If you want to see Game of Thrones (and I do), your options are 1) subscribe to cable plus HBO, or 2) pirate. I think the series rocks, but I'm not paying $100 a month for it. If HBO expects me to do so, it weakens their moral claim against piracy. Unconvinced? Imagine instead that HBO offers to let you watch Game of Thrones for free—but the only place on Earth you can view the series is in the Kodak Theater in Hollywood. You're located in rural Iowa? Well, you've no cause for complaint! Fly to LA! I suspect that translating costs into physical costs makes the argument clearer: HBO charges not only for the content, but bundles it with one particular delivery medium. If that medium is unavailable to you, or unaffordable, you're out of luck. Unless, of course, you have broadband, and can BitTorrent.

So what can you do? As you might imagine from Derek's example, your options are pretty limited. Although you can find many shows and movies on services like Netflix, Hulu, Amazon, and iTunes, those services are often lacking in content (like Game of Thrones) that is too difficult, expensive, or sometimes even impossible (e.g. if you live outside of the United States) to acquire. Although you can encrypt and anonymize your BitTorrent traffic or subscribe to a Usenet provider that offers a connection via SSL to protect yourself when downloading anything from either service, you still have no legal right to download any copyrighted content without expressed permission. For now there is little we can do to make this situation better other than encourage the film and television industries to regard piracy as competition. As iTunes has proven with music and cartoonist The Oatmeal has cleverly illutrated, when it's easier and affordable to use the legal route, that's the route most people will take.

Source : http://lifehacker.com/5888488/how-youre-breaking-the-law-every-day-and-what-you-can-do-about-it

 

My view 

According to me, copyright is definitely a serious topic and it has to be taken seriously by people. It is not something to be taken lightly. Committing a copyright crime can cause a huge impact on someone's life as well as career. It is taken very seriously in The United States. Therefore, people are out to take it seriously as well. There have been various cases of committing the act of copyright and people have been caught and punished. People who don't know about it should definitely learn about it and aware their friends and family about it as well.  

BLOG 5 REPORTER'S PRIVILEGE

Reporter's Privilege

Reporter's privilege in the United States also known as journalist's privilege, newsman's privilege, or press privilege, is a "reporter's" protection under constitutional or statutory law, from being compelled to testify about confidential information or sources. Being a part of the media takes a lot of hard work and understanding. To work as a reporter, a person should be able to figure out what is right and wrong for them to publish. It takes literally 2 seconds for people to make assumptions about something being posted in the media. In this case, a reporter should be able to portray news in such a way that no harm is done to anyone whatsoever. The United States Department of Justice created self-imposed guidelines intended to protect the news media by regulating the use of subpoenas against the press. These guidelines state that "all reasonable attempts should be made to obtain information from alternative sources" after considering issuing a subpoena to a member of the news media. Therefore, the guidelines require that federal prosecutors negotiate with the press, explaining the specific needs of the case.

Judith Miller

Born : January 2, 1948.

Place of Birth : New York City.
Nationality : American.

Spouse : Jason Epstein (since 1993).

Parents : Bill Miller.

Books : Germs: Biological Weapons and America's Secret War, God has Ninety-Nine names.

Education : Barnard College, Hollywood High School, Ohio State University.

Matthew Cooper

Born : 1963.
Nationality : American.
Education : Columbia University, Columbia High School.
Newsweek : Political editor.
Spouse : Mandy Grunwald (1997 - 2007).
Children : A son.




The issue of a reporter's privilege came to the forefront of media attention in the case of Miller, involving reporters Judith Miller and Matthew Copper. Miller and Cooper were both served with grand jury subpoenas for testimony and information, including notes and documents pertaining to conversations with specific and all other official sources relating the Plame affair. Both refused to submit to the subpoenas, claiming reporter's privilege. The federal district court held both Miller and Cooper in civil contempt of court, and the United States Court Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit upheld the orders of contempt.

Miller and Cooper, in their appeal to the appellate court pleaded several defenses including a First Amendment reporter's privilege and a common law reporter's privilege. The appellate court rejected both the First Amendment and common law claims for privilege. The court held Miller and Cooper in pending an appeal to the U.S. Supreme court.

However, the U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear the case. Judith Miller began serving the remaining four months of the original eighteen-month sentence on July 6, 2005. Matthew Cooper's confidential source released him from their confidentiality agreement, so he chose to comply with the subpoena and has agreed to testify before the grand.

My view 

I think this issue is the best example for a reporter's privilege. It shows how sometimes reporters can also take their work and its privileges for granted. Reporters are supposed to understand that they should take their work seriously and be honest with their job. But sometimes things tend to go out of hand an either knowingly or unknowingly they end up committing a crime related to report writing and publishing. The plus point of being a reporter is that there is solution to almost everything in the sector of report writing. So, whenever some crime has been committed, the reporters have various of ways to fix their mistake and move on. 

BRIEF 4 PLAGIARISM AND FABRICATION

Plagiarism and Fabrication

In simple words, plagiarism is the practice of taking someone else's work or ideas and passing them off as one's own. Plagiarism and Fabrication is considered to be a crime because it really is a huge deal. So, we should always be as original as possible and not copy from someone else's work. Even if we have the permission, we need to be extra careful and make sure to cite it when it comes to copying even a small part from other's work. The citation helps us to avoid the blame of randomly copying someone's work.

In Universities, we are told and given set of instructions in the very beginning which states that committing plagiarism and fabrication is a huge deal, and we will have to face the consequences if we ever commit  it. It is taken very seriously. So, we need to understand that we are not supposed to do it even if we are in a situation where there is no way out. For situations like that, we should seek help from people who are good at it instead of copying from other's working and getting ourselves into trouble. Sometimes people end up thinking that copying a few sentences isn't wrong but what they don't understand is even the smallest portion of copying someone else's work might put us in trouble.

                         https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pmab92ghG0M

My view

Therefore, plagiarism is one of the most important thing to understand especially by the students so that we don't commit this crime even unintentionally. We need to be extra careful about this and make sure to always cite someone else' work if we are using it but overall try to be creative and only take ideas from other's work, and make it in our own words.  It is taken very seriously. So, we need to understand that we are not supposed to do it even if we are in a situation where there is no way out. For situations like that, we should seek help from people who are good at it instead of copying from other's working and getting ourselves into trouble. Sometimes people end up thinking that copying a few sentences isn't wrong but what they don't understand is even the smallest portion of copying someone else's work might put us in trouble.

BRIEF 3 ADVERTISING ETHICS

Advertising Ethics

Ethics in advertising means a set of moral principles which govern a person's behavior or how the activity is conducted. Basically ethics in advertising play a very vital role. It should be taken very seriously as it is one of the most important part of advertising. Advertising means a set of well defined principles which govern the ways of communication taking place between the seller and buyer. 

There are many advertisements made that are unethical and doesn't contain any sorts of logic. Those types of advertisement should not be published whatsoever. Below is a video on some of the advertisements that has been banned. 

                           https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yVSrWnluBkk

Unethical advertisements not only ruin the views and opinions of people, but it also makes them feel as though people have really stopped showing sensible things on television. From children to old aged people, everyone is so into technologies these days. So, the advertisements shown anywhere should be ethical and should not contain useless entities. It is really saddening to see that people actually make those type of advertisements that are disgusting and senseless. Everyone has their own opinion as far as things are concerned. The things I like might not be liked by anyone else and the things everyone likes might not be liked by me. But if there is a verdict of enough people on something, it means that thing is genuinely good or bad.

On the video above there is a comment that grabbed my attention. The person comments indirectly saying that how come these advertisements are banned but not Nicki Minaj's video called "Anaconda".

My view

So basically, I think that advertisements should be banned or stated as unethical before publishing so that they don't put a bad impression on the audience and make them blame the entire advertisement industry. The publishers must know the choice of the audience beforehand and they should also have a clear view on the difference between ethical and unethical advertisements. So, the advertisements shown anywhere should be ethical and should not contain useless entities. It is really saddening to see that people actually make those type of advertisements that are disgusting and senseless. Everyone has their own opinion as far as things are concerned. The things I like might not be liked by anyone else and the things everyone likes might not be liked by me. But if there is a verdict of enough people on something, it means that thing is genuinely good or bad.

BRIEF 2 SUPERMARKET TABLOIDS

Supermarket Tabloids

Basically, in the United States "supermarket tabloids" are large. The versions of these tabloids are usually published once every week. Supermarket tabloids are particularly notorious for the over-the-top sensationalizing of stories. The facts presented in these tabloids can often be called into question because they are only made to grab attention of the readers and might not completely be true whatsoever. Supermarket tabloids are actually famous for their placement along the checkout lines of the supermarkets. They are initially made with covers which contain shocking news that ends up attracting the customers. 

According to the Cambridge dictionary, A newspaper sold in supermarkets that contains reports about famous people's private lives or other things that have happened but are often hard to believe is known as the supermarket tabloids.

National Enquirer is one of the most famous tabloids. It is mostly famous for the exaggerated news on celebrities. It was founded in 1926. The tabloid has gone through a number of changes over the years. The Enquirer openly acknowledges that it will pay sources for tips, a practice generally disapproved of by the mainstream press. The tabloid has struggled with declining circulation figures because of competition from glossy tabloid publications. In May 2014, American Media announced a decision to shift the headquarters of the National Enquirer from Florida, where it had been located since 1971, back to New York City, where it originally began as The New York Enquirer in 1926. The Enquirer publicly declares that they are willing to pay sources for the tips. Like any other tabloids, National Enquirer is also involved in portraying news in a flashy manner that attracts the customers.

During the 1980s, the tabloid's slogan in radio and TV ads was "Enquiring minds want to know." Someone wanting the truth about an issue appends the slogan to their demand as a catchphrase. In the song "Midnight Star" from his album "Weird Al" Yankovic in 3-D, "Weird Al" Yankovic" uses the phrase during the song's outro. In 1987, the publisher of the National Enquirer trademarked the phrase, which uses the alternative (and more commonly British) spelling of "inquiring".

My view

I personally think that supermarket tabloids should have some kind of limit. Publishing random stuff about the celebrities which may or may not be true just to put them in spot just because they are celebrities doesn't mean it is necessary to harm them in any way. Celebrities are also human beings and they do have their personal lives. Some things are just meant to remain inside their lives and shouldn't be portrayed outside in front of the entire world. I agree on the point that the stories posted can be 100% true but these tabloids publish it in such an exaggerated manner that even the truth seems to be a lie.